The use of wireless communications is expanding. Although wireless communications are most commonly used in wide-area environments (e.g. cellular), the use of wireless communication is greatly expanding in local area environments, such as a retail environment, a factory environment, a warehouse environment, etc. In addition, such local area wireless communications can use a variety of different services, using different frequency bands and communication protocols, e.g. Bluetooth™, Wi-Fi™, RFID, etc.
In a commercial environment there may be several different wireless networks being used, each using their own network infrastructure. For example, in a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) application, fixed RFID readers may be mounted overhead (e.g., ceiling mounted) in several positions and orientations throughout the environment, in order to read any RFID tag within the environment. Also, in an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) application, fixed WLAN access points readers may be mounted overhead (e.g., ceiling mounted) in several positions throughout the environment, in order to communicate with any mobile or fixed device within the environment. An overhead configuration offers several advantages such as fewer physical obstructions, ease of access to wiring in a ceiling, tamper resistance, safety, and the like. Each of these applications can require multiple antennas and circuitry housings disposed throughout the environment. Therefore, it can be desirable to combine the network infrastructure of different systems into a common housing or into other available housings such as video cameras, locationing systems, etc. However, such combinations have disadvantages.
For example, combining different systems into a common housing will increase the size of the housing, making installation more difficult and appearing more obtrusive. In addition, one system can interfere with the operation of another system. For example, a video camera can block or jam signals of a WLAN or RFID antenna, resulting in a blind spot or coverage shadow in the environment for the WLAN or RFID infrastructure. In another example, a WLAN antenna can physically obstruct a video camera or a locationing system. In yet another example, when antennas of different systems (e.g. RFID and WLAN) are closely spaced, one system can detune or jam the other as the energy of one system undesirably couples to the other system. All of these examples can result in blind spots, coverage shadows, or poor performance for any or all of the systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and an arrangement of a combination of different network infrastructure that overcome the aforementioned limitations.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.